


We Pray On The Weak

by AuroraKant



Series: Whumptober2020 [9]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Blood, Comic Book Science, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Dick is Being Hunted By A Monster, Everybody Who Was Alive At The Beginning Of This Story Will Still Be Alive By The End Of It, Gen, Grief, Horror, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd - Freeform, Monsters, Nobody Dies, Self-Doubt, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26933296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraKant/pseuds/AuroraKant
Summary: Dick had really never aspired to be the main character of a horror movie – he secretly harbored quite the dislike for that genre of movie. He couldn’t find it in himself to be more sympathetic now that he was living through it himself.Instead, he took a couple of deep breaths, forcing himself out of the mindset of scared twenty-two-year-old Dick Grayson, and into the brain of Nightwing, who laughed in the face of danger.Or: Dick gets hunted by a monster through Gotham's National Park - But why does the Monster look so familiar?Day 10:Blood Loss| Internal Bleeding |Trail of Blood
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd
Series: Whumptober2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948651
Comments: 16
Kudos: 148
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	We Pray On The Weak

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bluebats](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebats/gifts).



> Hello and welcome to this!!!  
> This is for the amazing Blue! Who I hope enjoys this even if it isn't... entirely what you wanted... (sorry, the prompt got away from me)!  
> I... tried something new, I guess? We will see if it works! :D
> 
> Comments, Kudos, Bookmarks and Feedback give me life!!! <3<3<3

Dick's breath came in short bursts.

His hand was pressed onto the bleeding gash on his side, pain radiating through his entire body. He was in agony. Blood soaked his shirt, running down towards his pants, coloring the waistband red.

But there was no chance in hell he could stop yet - he had to keep running or otherwise the monster might get him. And he couldn’t let the monster get to him.

The forest was completely and utterly dark, the stars overhead hidden from view thanks to the giant trees. The moon wasn't visible either, clouds obscuring it, were it might have had a chance to shine through the shrubbery otherwise.

Just the residual illumination of the sky made it possible for Dick to see anything at all – but never enough. Everything was colored in black and blues, shadows dancing behind the trees and through Dick’s vision. The world was hazy, shrouded in darkness like this, and Dick had the feeling that clear lines had vanished together with the light.

Dick allowed himself a moment to breathe, leaning against the birch tree he was hiding behind. Just... Just a moment. He needed a battle plan, some sort of idea on how to continue. Right now, he was just running around like a headless chicken, and if he didn’t want to get caught by his very own clever fox, he had to think fast.

The trees looked all the same in the dark light, and Dick wasn't familiar with this part of the National Park behind Gotham. He rarely left the city in this direction, Blüdhaven or the harbor his usual scene – but National Parks? He had never even thought them to be particularly interesting back when his parents and him had traveled the world together. Humanity had so much more to offer than a piece of forest.

Now Dick was paying for that mindset.

But maybe that was why he had chosen to investigate the weird stories people told about these parts of the New Jersey Preservation Park in his civilian identity in the first place. It was never too late to discover a latent love for the outdoors in oneself, or to find tranquility in the beauty of nature.

(that and Dick had to get away for a bit – as much as he loved his family, sometimes they just got to be too much)

Dick Grayson going hiking was far less likely to gather attention than Nightwing snooping around. And Dick had actually started to enjoy himself, his investigation staying fruitless, but his restless mind enjoying the long hiking trails and the quiet the trees provided.

It was a bit like a vacation while on the job, and Dick was used to taking what he could get.

And be it some alone time while searching for clues regarding a “monster” or “beast”? Who was Dick to say No to an opportunity like that?

Well, it had come back to bite him in the ass. Quite literally.

Dick pressed his hand down on his side, blood welling up underneath his fingers. It was warm and sticky, and Dick wished he could magic the strong smell of iron away – it was nauseating. And dangerous.

His phone had fallen into a ditch quite early on in this race of life and death. Dick had stumbled on his way back to the car, phone clutched in his hand. The beast attacking him when he went to look for it in the dirt and leaves covering the floor.

It had only taken a moment of distraction, and suddenly Dick had been rolling down a slope, the giant beast following him, its claws already painfully deep inside his body…

Dick had managed to escape – his ability to react honed and trained due to years at Batman’s side. It had been a tight fit. Dick had recovered faster than the monster from their tumble down through the forest, and he’d used his acrobatic skills to climb on top of the next tree and flee like that: from one treetop to the next.

But that couldn’t work forever, darkness claiming the national park, and the lack of light making it impossible for Dick to see where he was jumping. He couldn’t risk himself dying like that, he couldn’t risk falling.

And so, he had climbed down, continuing his attempt to return to his car down on the floor.

But it had already been too late – Dick had been helplessly lost by the time his feet touched the ground, breath coming in short bursts.

Now he had no means to contact someone, and no torch that could show him just how bad the wound was. His phone was lost, his connection to Bruce and the outer world laying crushed somewhere in this fucking forest.

It was dark and scary, and Dick was in pain, but it was almost hilarious how much his fingers itched for a phone to play with. It was a piece of security, Dick knew that, but this longing for something familiar made him feel like Tim. Always these damn kids and their need for technology.

Soon his short break would be over, he had to get moving again. Dick was in no position to repeatedly defend himself against the beast, not even as Nightwing – especially not with the hole in his side that just wouldn’t stop bleeding.

To his right something made a noise as it moved through the underbrush. Immediately Dick focused his attention on the sound, his ears perked, his entire body tense. A spark of pain ran up his side, but Dick ignored it.

He listened in complete silence; he wasn’t even drawing in a breath. But after ten seconds, twenty, thirty… nothing moved, the only noises quite normal for a forest at night. Dick could hear the faint hooting of an owl on the hunt, and the sounds of prey animals scurrying over the floor – but he could no longer hear the sound of something large and daunting watching his every move.

Dick wasn’t sure if that was good or bad news.

He would have to start running again, even if it was absolutely useless. If the beast got a whiff of Dick's blood, it would be able to follow him everywhere. It would be impossible to lose it then, and Dick had no idea if he was capable of getting to safety before the monster reached him.

No matter what Dick did or how hard he tried to keep bis blood on the inside, it was impossible for him to not leave a trail of blood.

So, yeah, he was fucked if the beast found him.

Especially if it did so while sniffing him out, following the scent Dick had spread over the entire forest.

The monster already had Dick’s scent, Dick suddenly remembered, an icy shiver running down his spine. When it hit him, burying its claws in Dick’s side, it had coated its fur in blood – in Dick’s aroma.

Fuck.

Dick was fucked the moment the monster found his trail again. And that was something Dick had no control over.

He really had to start running again, even if that meant making more noise, even if running felt so much more daunting than hiding did. But he was Nightwing. He was Dick Grayson. And Dick Grayson never backed down.

It was his job to do what was best while also ensuring his own safety… and right now that unfortunately meant running through a dark and scary forest with a bloody gash on his body, and a monster on his trail.

Dick had really never aspired to be the main character of a horror movie – he secretly harbored quite the dislike for that genre of movie. He couldn’t find it in himself to be more sympathetic now that he was living through it himself.

Instead, he took a couple of deep breaths, forcing himself out of the mindset of scared twenty-two-year-old Dick Grayson, and into the brain of Nightwing, who laughed in the face of danger.

(even if Nightwing also preferred cities to creepy National Parks)

His feet thumped when they connected with the floor after his first running leap, the moss and pine needles compressing underneath the soles of his boots, giving him a bounce as he catapulted himself forward.

He was running.

Trees moved past him, sticks and stones little more than small hindrances in front of him, easy to overcome. He could feel the adrenaline pulsing through his veins, the exhilaration of free running almost annihilating the fear and pain.

The night was still dark, the trees looming over him, but the air felt cold and fresh when he breathed it in, and his muscles were warm with exercise – it would be easy to let himself get lost in the joy of running, but Dick was well aware that that would be his death sentence.

Instead, he tried to find the slope again that had been the beginning of his downward descend into being hunted. If he found that piece of land again, he would be able to track his steps back towards the path and his car… if he made it that far, he would be safe.

It didn’t matter that he was grinning like a mad man as he ran, it didn’t matter that his pulse was calm and even – it mattered that Dick hadn’t forgotten what was going on. It wasn’t his fault his body had come to associate adrenaline with joy, and danger with happiness. Especially since it was so much easier to fall into that mindset when he was channeling Nightwing.

He was doing his best to stay silent, but it was hard with the wood beneath his feet being dry, sticks breaking apart when Dick unwittingly stepped onto them.

He really did his best.

But, of course, that just wasn’t enough.

Dick’s short reprieve in happiness ended with the distinct sound of a growl to his right.

The beast. _The monster_. Dick had found it or – more likely – it had found Dick.

The small sound the beast made was all the warning Dick got before it pounced, the black shadow jumping down from a tree to his left.

Dick hadn’t seen it the first time he had encountered the monster, thinking it to be a wolf-like being. The claws piercing his side had told him as much. But now with a tendril of moonlight reaching through the treetops, Dick could see that his assumption was wrong.

The thing was… twisted, and pieces of rotten fur seemed to fall of its body, its legs turned backwards like those of a dog typically were. Something else caught Dick’s attention as well: It had a human face. It was too dark to see anything more concrete, no details visible, and Dick’s stomach was too upset with the idea of this monster being a person, as that Dick could concentrate on just what the monster looked like.

What kind of human it resembled.

Especially since all of Dick’s brain power was needed to evade the senseless attacks of the beast. Only pure luck allowed Dick to stumble out of the way when the thing crashed down in front of him, and it was a matter of inches that made sure that Dick’s second side wasn’t also impaled on the filthy claws.

It was bad enough that Dick’s torso was already protesting his hectic moves towards escape, he didn’t need to spill anymore fresh blood on the forest floor.

For a few precious seconds it seemed as if maybe it would work. Dick ducked away under the attack and managed to achieve a stumbling run deeper into the forest, the beast left behind. But he knew he was in no condition to remain victorious for long, his breath getting caught by the stinging in his side.

Hah, this wasn’t even a victory – this was a successful evasion.

And just as Dick thought that, a heavy weight slammed into his back, pushing him onto the floor. It was hard to breathe, the monster extremely heavy, his lungs struggling to expand.

 _Fuck_.

“ _Mine~ I have you_!”

Shit, the monster could speak. And fuck, its voice sounded vaguely familiar, even as twisted and garbled as it was. Dick didn’t like it, no, he didn’t like it one bit.

It was a futile attempt to escape, but Dick tried it anyway, buckling and fighting and moving in an effort to dislodge the beast from his back.

It didn’t move.

Instead the claws came down once more, and Dick lost consciousness rather quickly after that, the fire in his shoulder slowly consuming him.

There was hot breath in his neck, and pain in his side.

There was a stone that Dick was being dragged over, and it hurt his head.

There was dirt and leaves and sticks… and none of that mattered to the person pulling him along.

There was… pain and there an uncomfortably sticky wetness running down his neck.

There was… confusion and darkness… and unmeasurable fear.

When Dick finally opened his eyes again with the intention of staying awake, a cave greeted him. It was a sparse stone hole, nothing like the thing Bruce claimed as his lair. No, this was a natural occurrence in the brittle stone Gotham and New Jersey had been built upon.

The first thing he noticed, was that the monster was sitting opposite him, its shoulders hunched, its face turned away.

The second thing he noticed, what that he wasn’t cold anymore, an animal skin being draped over him.

The third thing he noticed, what that he was still bleeding sluggishly.

His mind was still too caught up in the last remnants of unconsciousness, pain, as of yet, far away.

Dick thought it might be a bad idea to give his captor a sign that he was awake, so he made no noise, letting his eyes wander without interruption. There wasn’t much to see, the stone surrounding them smooth in some places, and jaded in others. There was no fire burning in here, only a pile of old bones sitting in one corner of the small space.

Dick could see a human skull or two in the pile, and he knew he would be next.

Why the blanket, he had no idea, but it was rather obvious as on why he had been dragged into the literal cave of the beast.

Fuck, killed by a monster and then eaten was rather low on Dick’s favorite-ways-to-die list. Especially since… well, especially since Bruce had only just begun to heal. Dick as well – some days Jason’s death still felt too real, but recently with Tim joining their merry band of misfits, Dick had found it harder to get lost in the grief.

And even if they still fought, Dick could see that the same was the case for Bruce.

He was healing.

Dick dying in some fucking cave in some fucking National Park was not going to help the man progress any further – no, most likely Dick had just damned him to another decade of self-destructive behavior and depression.

For a moment Dick thought about fighting, about escaping against impossible odds, but then he tried to shift his tired body, and everything screamed in agony. His head was a swimming mess of confusion, and where only moments earlier Dick had been capable of contemplating his situation freely, it was suddenly rather hard to string two sentences together into something resembling sense.

A pained moan escaped Dick, and the attention of the monster returned to him.

Dick could see its face now, or he would have been able to see it, but the blood loss didn’t just send his thoughts spinning, it made nausea bubble in his stomach as well. Dick swallowed tickly to keep the bile down, his gaze glued to his hands.

If he dared to move now, he would throw up.

If he dared to focus or twist or risked breathing in too deeply, he would be sick.

Neither he nor the beast moved for a long, long while, and Dick could feel the eyes of the monster follow him, as he finally managed to curl up again, protecting and hiding his body underneath the blanket to the best of his abilities.

The silence stretched forever, Dick’s breathing echoing in the cave, the monster frighteningly silent.

The quiet had never been Dick’s friend, his soul created for love and chatter and companionship. It had gotten him into trouble quite often, but it had also helped him – there was nothing more Dick could lose:

“What do you want from me?”

His voice was weak, and the beast didn’t answer, silence weighting like an elephant on Dick’s chest. He was forced to endure the panic building in his stomach, and the way his vision threatened to slip away every time he blinked.

Careful not to draw attention to himself, Dick let his hands wander underneath the blanket, and he hissed, when his fingers touched the gash… blood had soaked through most of Dick’s shirt, but at this point his pants were probably painted red as well. His shoulder was stinging too, but since it was opposite of the gash, Dick was unable to reach towards his second injury. He would only hurt himself further, should he try.

From what Dick could tell, he wasn’t actively bleeding out, even if the blood loss was getting to him. The wounds were deep, but probably not fatal – should he get help soon. Should he manage to not get eaten.

Those were some pretty big _shoulds._ Dick really didn’t like his odds, but then again, when had it ever mattered if he liked something or not.

There were only two options: Survive or die, and Dick was pretty sure he knew which one he preferred. Only… it was hard to stay firm in his believe that everything would be alright, when moving hurt, and a monster out of a horror movie was watching over him.

Dick used the silence, that seemed impenetrable, to look at the monster, light filtering in through the cave entrance. It was getting bright outside, the new day beginning without Dick making it home.

Was Bruce worried yet?

Or did the man think that Dick hadn’t called in yet because he was mad?

Dick wasn’t sure, he hoped for the former – but their shared track record promised the latter.

The monster… it looked less like a beast with every stray of light that danced through the cave. The rotten fur looked like torn clothing; the body so much smaller than Dick had originally thought. He knew he hadn’t imagined the strength coiled up inside the beast, and his side and shoulder told him that he hadn’t imagined the claws either but…

The monster looked young.

The human parts of its face were partially hidden by dirt and the matted hair obscuring its eyes, but Dick could swear that it was a child. Or a teenager.

His heart was torn with emotions… for one, he could see the bodies piling up in the corner, could smell the stench of rancid flesh, and rotten carcasses. But on the other hand? It had given Dick an animal skin to hide behind, and it had… it had a face so young and innocent.

Dick wasn’t… he wasn’t a cruel person. Sometimes he was a bit brash, or a bit loud, but he rarely tended to hurt people for the sake of hurting them – even if they might not even be considered people, even if they were trying – and had almost succeeded – in killing him.

Maybe there was hope still.

Maybe there was a curse at play here – the light washing away the monstrous parts of the beast, leaving something almost human in its wake.

“What do you want?”

Dick repeated, hope coloring his voice once more. And this time… this time the monster answered:

“You.”

Dick knew that voice, he was sure of it, but he couldn’t place it. Something was wrong, that much was certain, the feeling in his gut one of worry and anxiety. Something was wrong – but Dick had absolutely no clue what.

“Me? How?”

“You… _you_ …”

The beast seemed to struggle, and Dick felt with it, the search for words you couldn’t quite grasp a cruel one. Dick shifted in his position on the floor, his side aflame with pain, stars dancing through his vision. And yet Dick pushed forward, forcing his body into an upright position, the animal skin clutched tightly in his shaking hands.

It was an ordeal, and Dick could feel the eyes of the monstrous boy follow him, could feel him watch and wait.

Some part of him was certain the monster would attack, but no such thing happened.

When Dick was sitting, his lungs drawing in one breath after the other, the boy was still looking. His gaze was focused, even if his eyes were still hidden. Dick could feel something inside of him stir.

He knew this focused gaze – that much was sure.

“Who are you?”

Silence, at least at first. The boy was staring at him, and Dick… Dick had almost forgotten to be afraid up until this moment. The fear had fallen away for a bit as the intrigue settled in his bones, but under the intense focus of the boy… The pile of bones in the corner of the small cave suddenly seemed so much more real.

Dick swallowed, his throat dry, and he wished his legs had the strength left to run. Maybe that way, he could simple escape this horrible situation. But, no, his muscles shook at the idea of running, and his body swayed when he tried to move…

He had been bleeding for hours now.

Dick would go nowhere without help anymore.

“ _Me… Jay_ …”

“What?”

“ **Jay** ”

Ice water dosed Dick, every hair on his body standing up straight. He couldn’t have… no, he must have… but what? Dick couldn’t have heard right. He couldn’t… _that was impossible_.

 _Jason was dead_.

Jason had died, afraid and alone while Dick had been a universe away. Jason had been buried and forgotten before Dick had gotten a chance to say goodbye. Jason had been laid to rest and honored, as Dick was being forced away from Gotham.

Jason Todd was dead.

But Dick looked at the boy in front of him, at the fur that fell away, at the young face that laid underneath, and he could… he could see his little brother in the twist of those lips, and he could imagine the twinkle of his bright eyes underneath the dark bangs. It was… It was impossible.

“Jason is dead.”

“Was… dead…”

“ ** _WHAT ARE YOU_**?”

Dick hadn’t planned on getting loud, but it was hard to control himself with his world crumbling right in front of him. Jason Todd was dead – this was the one truth universally acknowledged, and yet this rotting, wolf-like monster was turning into a boy… a boy, who wore Jason’s face.

Dick was having none of it.

He wanted to rage and scream and fight, but when he tried to stand up – maybe he was just trying to run away – his arms gave out underneath him and he fell. He was just so tired. Too tired to escape the face of his dead brother, too tired to escape the small voice inside his head that whispered that it was really Jason who was standing in front of him.

Their voices were the same.

Their faces were the same.

Their… their height was the same. And was Dick seeing the glimpses of a rotten suit underneath all the grime and dirt?

What was going on? What was Jason doing here?

“ _I am… Jay… I was… dead… I am… here…”_

His speech was getting clearer, and with each word that fell from his lips, Dick knew… Dick knew that it was true. This was Jason, his baby brother, his Little Wing. This was Jason, who died too soon, who never knew how much Dick loved him.

It felt weird and wrong and soul-wrenching, when Dick crawled towards the monster that had hunted him, the world spinning around him, lights dancing and turning and changing – it felt weird when Dick enclosed him in a hug.

Jason smelled of decay.

He smelled dead.

Dick couldn’t stop the tears, and neither did he want to. It didn’t matter that he was bleeding from two wounds, it didn’t matter that he would lose consciousness soon, shouldn’t they get taken care of, it didn’t matter that Jason had been the one hunting him…

Dick had found his little brother.

Dick had gotten his Jason back.

For a while that was enough, Dick sobbing into Jason’s body, the boy almost unresponsive, his arms cold when they came to rest on Dick’s shoulders. Dick felt… he was relieved and glad and… it was hard to feel pain when a miracle happened.

And then the high sun of noon came, and the cave was bathed in light.

Dick couldn’t look away, was forced to watch as the light hit the body of his baby brother, and a black ooze spilled out of his mouth… he was forced to watch as Jason’s body began to convulse, swaying in its position held by Dick.

“Jay? What is wrong, Jay? What is going on?”

“ _I am… leaving_ …”

Jason was rotting away in Dick’s arms. The disgust welling up inside of him was indescribable, and Dick watched in horror as… as Jason turned into a corpse.

Only moments ago, Dick had been clutching his dead but alive brother, happy to have found him once more, to get a second chance, and now Dick was bathed in the decay of a dead body, the remains of Jason spread out in front of him.

Dick couldn’t help himself, he spilled sick all over himself and Jason…

It was horrible to think of this… this pile of bones in a rotten funeral suit as his brother, but Dick knew that this was exactly what it was.

Jason was dead again – and it hurt almost worse than it had the first time.

Sobs were wracking his body, and Dick did no longer care, if it hurt when he moved, or that he was as good as dead if he didn’t get help soon, because… because… Jason was dead. _Again_.

The world was ending inside Dick’s head, waves of despair crashing down on him, a certain lightheadedness making everything so much worse. He was wailing and screaming and slowly… slowly he was losing his strength.

It was hard to say how much time had passed, when Bruce stumbled into the cave.

Dick only knew he felt like death – disgusting and wrong and undeserving.

He didn’t even notice when Bruce entered the space, only looking up when a hand slowly forced him to, guiding him with a gentleness, Dick didn’t deserve.

“Dick, look at me.”

“Jason is dead.”

“Yes, I know.”

Bruce sounded so sad when he said it and Dick felt like the biggest asshole on earth. Of course, Bruce knew – he would never be able to forget. It was Dick who had pushed the memory down, who had ignored his grief, and now he was paying the price for it, Jason reappearing in front of him, only to rot out of his grasp:

“No, you… you don’t understand… he was, he was here, Bruce. I had him. I held him. He was here… and then… and then he turned into this!”

Dick motioned towards the dirty suit on the floor, towards the bones still covered in something, his movements clumsy. His shoulders were shaking, each sob sending a new wave of pain racing through his body… he just wanted Jason back. Was that too much to ask?

“Dick. Dick! Look at me! Okay?”

It was harder than it should be to tear his gaze away from the remains of his little brother, but Dick had heard the tears in Bruce’s voice, and he saw them as well, when his eyes found Bruce:

“Dick… I know… I am sorry, you went through that. Just… this isn’t Jason… Jason is still buried in his grave on the Wayne Cemetery… I… I checked.”

“What do you mean? This was Jason! I… I talked to him, Bruce. I talked to him… he said his name was Jay, and he… he wore the suit, and he sounded just like him! I know it was him! Bruce! It was him! And I disappointed him again!”

“No… no, Dick, Jason is dead.”

With that Bruce pulled him into a hug, forcing Dick’s face away from the mess on the floor, by pressing it firmly into his suit jacket. It was Bruce Wayne who had found him, his tired brain noted, not Batman. It was Bruce Wayne, who had searched and found his son.

“It will be alright.”

“No, it won’t. I know… I know what I saw… It was Jay… It was him….”

“Dick… a few days ago, a Black Lantern Ring got stolen… it got misused, creating images of… of dead loved ones. The Green Lanterns” – Bruce was choking on his tears – “they took care of it just now… Jason is dead, Dick, and… and this was just a mirror monster. I am so sorry…”

“Why?”

“Because no one should have to go through something like that.”

Bruce was strong as he held him, even if Dick could feel him shaking. Bruce was so strong – and Dick just wanted to fall apart.

His little brother was dead, had been just that the entire time Dick had thought him returned and now… and now Dick would have to live with the consequences of that guilt. It was a travesty – Dick felt as if he had been split open, blood and emotions pouring out of him.

But that might just be the hole in his side and the fact that he was too tired to care about his life.

“I… I am hurt…”

“I know… I know and I will take care of you…”

Dick believed him. Bruce had him, even if Jason was still gone, even if Dick would never get his little brother back.

“I’m sorry, Bruce…”

“Don’t be, chum, don’t be… I am just glad that you are safe…”

Dick wished he could say the same.

He didn’t fight when Bruce hefted him up, and he relaxed when Bruce carried him out of the cave. His… his Bruce was here, and he was taking care of Dick.

At least he wasn’t alone.

At least there was still some hope left – even if Dick couldn’t see it in the moment.

“I’ve got you, chum, and… I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you, too.”


End file.
